Tag Archives: windows 10

Killer Apps & Hacks for Windows 10

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Did the UX people at Microsoft ever test Windows 10? Here are some must have apps and hacks I’ve found to make life on Windows 10 quick and easy.

Set Hotkeys for Apps

Sometimes you just want to launch an app from your keyboard. Using a method on Laptopmag.com, you can do this for most any program.

I use this in combination with macros like those noted below.

Quick Switch to VPN

vpn macro

VPN Macro

If you’re a smart and secure Internet user, you probably already use a VPN service to encrypt the data and web requests you send over the Internet (especially while on public wif-fi networks). But Windows 10 makes connecting to your VPN service a bit of a chore (I use Private Internet Access, by the way).

It’s weird because Windows actually placed the Connect to VPN in the Communications Center, but you still need to click into that, then click the VPN you want and then click Connect…that’s 3 clicks if you’re counting.

I’ve tried two methods to make this at least a little easier.

One caveat on all of this: if you log in with an administrator account (which I don’t because I’m concerned about security after all!), you could have your VPN client launch at start, but you’d still need to click the connect button and anytime you put the machine to sleep, it would disconnect (why they do that is beyond me).

With both methods, you need to manually add a VPN account to Windows built-in VPN feature.

Anyway, here are my two methods:

Macro Method

You can record actions as a “macro” and then save it as an executable program. You can then save the program to your desktop, start or taskbar. It’s a bit of a chore and in the end, the best you get is two-click access to your VPN connection…not the one-click you would get on a Mac. If my memory serves, this method only works if you log-in with an administrator account. Otherwise, you’ll be prompted for an administrator password each time…an who wants that?

Pin the Communicator VPN app to your Start pane.

This is actually how I ended up going in the end. To do this, you need to ‘hack’ a shortcut that points to your VPN settings panel (where the Connect button resides).

  1. On your desktop, right-click and select New > Shortcut
  2. A Shortcut wizard will open
  3. Paste ms-settings:network-vpn into the form
  4. Now pin the shortcut to your Start and you have quick access to the Connect dialog for your VPN

Switch between Audio Devices

Sometimes I want to jump between my speakers and my headphones and because I hate clicking and loath jumping out of Windows 10’s Metro design into the old-school looking Audio Device Controller, I followed the advice from The Windows Club. Their solution uses freeware called Audio Switcher to assign a hotkey to different audio devices.

I added Audio Switcher to my startup to make this a little more automated. Unfortunately, because I normally work in a non-administrator account on Windows 10, I get asked for an Admin password to launch this app at Startup. Egads!

In my case, I can now click the F1 (Headphones) and F2 (Speakers)  keys to switch playback devices for sound.

Overcoming the Windows Education or Windows Pro watermark

Windows embeds a horrible little Windows Education or Windows Pro watermark over the lower right corner of your desktop if you use one of those versions. There are two solutions to removing this remarkably distracting bit of text.

  1. Use a white background to “disappear” the white text
  2. Or, have an app sit over that space. I use MusicBee (recommended by LifeHacker) and set position the mini-version over that spot.
  3. Supposedly there’s a Regex trick where you delete the text but that’s a bit much work for me for such a slight annoyance.

Other Tricks

There are a couple other tricks that I’ve used to clean up Windows.

  1. Removing Metro Apps. This allows you to remove all the built-in apps that are there simply to confound your privacy and peddle your identity to Microsoft’s advertising partners. Remove them.
  2. Removing default folders from Explorer. If you’re like me and want better performance, you use a separate hard disk drive for your music, video and images and another drive (probably an SSD) for your OS and programs. Windows 10 is confusing for people with this kind of set up by placing folders in the File Explorer to your Images, Documents, etc. on your C Drive. In my case, that’s not the right drive. So I used the method linked above to remove those from Explorer.

Return to Windows

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There’s a Windows machine back in my house. That’s right, after 14 years of Mac OS, I’ve shifted my OS back to Windows…on my primary computer!

Windows? WTF?

So, Mac OSX is still a superior operating system. But the gap between Windows and OSX has shrunk considerably with the launch of Windows 10, but that’s hardly a good reason to leave behind the most simple, well-designed and usable OS out there.

But Apple is steadily closing the noose on what computer users can do with their machines and this has really rubbed me the wrong way.

Besides, I had a dream. A dream to build a dream machine, that is. I wanted to build my own ‘Adobe Machine’ for home use and also be able to swap out hardware over time. In Apple’s ultra-controlled ecosystem, building such a device would be very, very costly and also fail to really expand over time. And for very practical reasons, relying on a finicky Hacitosh was out of the picture.

So, fed up with the self-imposed limitations of Mac, I went back to Windows…and this is my experience.

First Impressions

desktopSo, the design of Windows 10 is actually quite pleasant. The modern ‘Metro’ UI is very pleasant (I only wish it was applied uniformly across the OS–more on that later).

The Start (menu) is actually a great way to tuck all of your most important apps out of sight. And I love that it’s flexible, allowing you to organize apps and folders however you want. There are even ways to label and group apps however you wish. The librarian in me sings with these kind of organizational features.

I’ve found that I actually use the Start Menu as a replacement for not only my Desktop but also the Task Bar, which I only keep visible so I have the clock visible.

Maybe it’s the OSXer in me, but there are parts of Windows 10 that feel like redundant re-thinks of more familiar features. For example, the Action Center has quick access icons for things like VPN and creating Notes, all of which, one would expect would be handled by the Start Menu. There’s also the little arrow-thingy on the task bar where certain background apps live. Why?

An Unfinished OS?

As I began customizing and exploring Windows 10, I began to realize that Microsoft must have pushed Windows 10 out the door before the pain was dry. There are odd discontinuities you the pleasantly designed Metro aesthetic ends and you’re suddenly thrown into some god-awful old-school Windows environment. This happens in the Settings panel often, for example, once you get a couple levels down.

Uh, guys, the Metro thing really works. Did you not have time to reskin the old Windows 7/XP UI sections? Please do this soon. It’s like you drove up in a super sweet ride, with designer shades on your face and then you get out of the car and you’re not wearing pants! Actually, you’re wearing tighty-whities.

Also, what’s up with the VPN workflow? As it currently works, it takes no less than four clicks to connect to my VPN. This should be one or two clicks, really. Please fix.

There’s a very nice dark theme, but, alas, it only applies to certain top-level sections of the OS. The File Explorer (a heavily used part of the UI), actually does not inherit the dark theme. There are hacks out there, but seriously, this should be as universal as setting your color scheme.

Can’t wait for Windows 10 to get all grow’d up.

Privacy

I’m going to write an entire blog on this, but Privacy is the biggest issue with this OS. Readers of my blog will know my personal feelings on this issue run strong. So I spent considerable time fighting Microsoft’s defaults, configuring privacy settings, messing with the registry (really?) and even doing a few hacks to lock this computer down.

Microsoft is really doing a number on its users. Windows 10 users are handing over unconscionable amounts of personal information over to Microsoft’s servers, their advertising partners and, if this info ever gets hacked (won’t happen, right?), to whoever wants to do a number on Windows 10 users.

Anyway, needless to say, I had to forgo using Cortana, which is sad because I’m very interested in these kinds of proto-AI tools. But as long as their phoning home, I just unplug them. Did the same to all the “Modern Apps” like Maps, News, etc.

Bottom Line

Breaking up with OSX was actually not as painful as I had expected. And I’m really enjoying Windows 10, save for a few frustration points as outlined above. Overall, it’s well worth the trade offs.

And my Dream Machine, which I christened Sith Lord (because it’s a big, dark beast), is running Adobe CC, rendering at light speed and could probably do the Kessel Run in less than 12 Parsecs.